


i don't wanna test you too much, baby

by qjett



Series: too much, never enough [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Enemies to Lovers, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Humor, Gay Keith (Voltron), Greys anatomy au, M/M, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Peds Surgeon!Lance, Pining Lance (Voltron), Trauma Surgeon!Keith, and lance with kids has my heart, but hes currently in time out for season 6 events, i have a kink for lance calling keith "keithy-boy", it was either peds or plastics, lotor is mentioned, theyre all hot surgeons, this is just me indulging in my klance addiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-11 03:14:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15306216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qjett/pseuds/qjett
Summary: Keith and Lance were rivals as interns. Keith left to do his residency and fellowship elsewhere, and Lance never thought of it again. Well, okay, he didn't think of itmuch. Lance was doing just fine until Keith showed up all rugged and grizzled and trauma-surgeon-y. Cue theoh no he's hotmoment.-Or, the Grey's Anatomy AU literally no one asked for.





	i don't wanna test you too much, baby

**Author's Note:**

> this is what happens when season 6 fucks you up and all you do is read klance fanfic and binge greys anatomy. enjoy!

"Pidge. Pidge. Oh, my God, _Pidge. _"__

“What, Lance?” Pidge turned to him, eyes clearly annoyed even under the glare of her glasses.  


“Please tell me that is not who I think it is.”  


They both look over to see their chief of surgery, Dr. Shirogane, shaking hands with a younger man and clapping him on the back as they laugh. The other man is older than Lance remembers and his body is much, much more toned, but Lance would recognize that horror of a mullet anywhere.  


“I have no idea who that is,” Pidge said, then went back to her tablet.  


“Hunk – Hunk!” Lance hissed, grabbing the big man by his sleeve as he passed by. “It’s Keith!”  


Hunk raised his eyebrow at Lance. “Okay, buddy, I love you, but I have a surgery in half an hour and my intern is nowhere to be seen. Can’t Allura deal with this today?”  


“It’s your turn, actually,” Pidge chimed in, then walked off with her fingers moving fast over her tablet.  


“Of course, it is,” Hunk sighed. “Okay, Lance, I’ll bite. Who’s Keith?”  


“Wh-Who’s Keith?!” Lance asked incredulously. “I mean, I know it’s been, like, seven years, but that’s Keith Kogane!”  


Hunk cocked his head.  


“My rival, Hunk!” Lance is starting to question how smart doctors actually are. “He interned here? Stole all my surgeries? Apple of Shiro’s eye? My _archenemy?” ___  


“Okay, Lance, I have an intern to find and bones to break,” Hunk replied, ignoring all of what Lance was saying. “Allura definitely wants to hear about this, I’m sure. Catch you later.”  


Then he scurried off like a child.  


“Oh, you –!” Lance sighed. He looked back to Keith, who Shiro was ushering out of the hallway. The man was totally different – his eyes were a lot sterner and hardened, and he grew a few inches, and his monstrosity of hair was longer, but that was Keith Kogane, all right.  


All interns were competitive. The were little fish in a big pond, thirsty for blood and hungry for cutting. Lance worked incredibly hard to get through medical school and land that interning job, but it was like Keith was _made _for it. He knew all the answers, he scrubbed in on all the best surgeries, and even did heart surgery in an elevator when the power in the hospital was out. Lance hated him for that especially.__  


And Shiro liked him. Takashi Shirogane was an epic surgeon who had won several Galran awards for his groundbreaking surgery techniques and his technology that saved livers around the world. He was a hero in Lance’s eyes, and Keith had him wrapped around his pinky finger.  


But then Keith left for some reason – Lance liked to believe that it was for disciplinary reasons, since Keith was always a hothead – and Lance rose to the top. After all those years, his hard work was finally paying off. He spent some time dabbling in plastics before following a pediatrics fellowship and becoming an attending. And he was awesome, and life was great, and now Keith freaking Kogane was back.  


_He’s probably some hot-shot cardio attending, _Lance thought to himself in disgust. _Or worse…plastics. _____  


At his lunch break, Lance slammed his mocha frappe down on the table in the attendings’ lounge and stared down Allura. “Keith. Kogane.”  


Allura stabbed at her salad, looking at Lance with her lips pursed. “The new trauma attending? He’s cool, isn’t he?”  


“No!” Lance groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. “He is not cool! At all! God, that guy was the worst. And now he’s back, and of course _you _think he’s cool.”__  


“Lance, do you think maybe you’re overreacting?” Allura said, putting her fork down. Her white curls framed her face beautifully, and usually Lance would make some flirty comment about it but he was too distracted by Keith.  


“Allura,” Lance huffed, “you don’t understand. No one does. I had to fight tooth and nail to get here, and I’m still swimming in debt, and Keith just has it all handed to him on a silver platter. It’s just…not fair.”  


Allura smiled at him gently. “Lance, you are a fantastic surgeon. You’re the best I’ve seen in your field, and I’ve seen quite a few before you came around. Keith may be a natural, but you’re a fighter. And sometimes, that’s even better.”  


Lance smiled back at her. “Thanks, princess. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you liked m–”  


“Good thing you know better then,” Allura cut him off, going back to her salad.  


Since it seemed like Lance was the only one to remember Keith, he tried not to bring him up. It wasn’t like trauma and peds crossed paths, so he really didn’t see much of the man. There were moments where Lance would walk by the pit and see Keith shouting orders like a drill sergeant, and it was easy to hate him in those moments.  


It was 4 am and Lance had finally gotten into a comfortable sleeping position when his phone went off the wall. He had a moment of silence to commemorate his sleep before seeing that he was being paged 9-1-1 from the hospital.  


He wiped off his facemask and rushed to pull on some clothes. The hospital was in full swing as he walked through the doors, and he grabbed Pidge as she ran past him.  


“What’s going on?” he demanded.  


“Semi slammed into six cars,” she said. “Lot of injuries. I have to run.”  


Lance knew how important a neurosurgeon was in these accidents so he let her go. Shiro then approached him with a serious look on his face.  


“Lance, we have an eight-year-old boy coming in with severe internal injuries,” Shiro told him, all business. “You awake yet?”  


“Always,” Lance nodded. He snapped at an intern scurrying around. “Page general, attending or resident, I don’t care.”  


“General is busy, use trauma,” Shiro waved Lance’s instructions off. The intern nodded and hurried off.  


“Oh, that’s…not necessary,” Lance sighed and hung his head. “I don’t need anyone, actually, Shiro…”  


“What’s wrong with trauma?” Shiro asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Actually, Lance, it doesn’t matter. Trauma is what we have.” He walked away, only turning back to say, “Work with it, Lance!”  


Lance pressed his lips together and pulled on a gown, rushing outside before Keith decided to show up and make things worse. He shook off any thoughts and got into surgeon-mode as the ambulance sped into the lot.  


“What –” Lance started to say before someone interrupted him from behind.  


“Okay, what do we got?”  


Every hair stood up on the back of Lance’s neck. _Keith. ___  


One EMT started filling them in on the patient’s status. His name was Benji Sykes, only eight years old with his dad on the way in the ambulance behind them. Lance listened intently as he ran beside the stretcher, but Keith’s incredibly close presence threw him for a loop. He wanted to sneak a peak at the other man, who was speaking very intensely to the EMT, but he knew his full attention had to be on the kid at hand.  


The kid…God, Lance had seen a lot of damaged kids in his years as a peds surgeon, but it never got easier seeing these small children so close to death in front of him. Benji’s entire face was bloodied and covered in glass, all from the windshield he was pulled out of from the scene of the crash. The eight-year-old had gone through the entire pane of glass and landed in front of the car, which was still going as he smacked into the streets. There was a tire mark on his Mario Kart shirt.  


All Lance could think for a moment was that his nephew Rico loved Mario Kart.  


“Okay, we’re going to need to intubate him to keep him stable,” Lance demanded, avoiding looking at the scuffed Mario on the Benji’s t-shirt. “Let CT know we’re coming up and have an O.R. on standby. He’s okay for now, but we can’t take any chances.”  


“Yes, doctor,” said a resident as he sent an intern to do his bidding.  


“And page general!” Keith shouted after the intern.  


“General’s backed up,” Lance hissed, guiding a tube down the young boy’s throat.  


“Well, we can’t afford to have them backed up,” Keith growled.  


Lance scoffed. “Oh, really? I had no idea! I’m only an attending, what do I know, right?”  


As Keith made to snap back, the boy’s heartrate started to crash.  


“Dammit, v-fib!” Lance reached out for the defibrillators as Keith turned him on his side to start compressions.  


“Charge to one-fifty.” Everyone backed away as Keith ripped open the Benji’s shirt and Lance pressed the defibrillators to the boy’s chest. “Clear!”  


With one charge, the boy’s heartrate was back up. Lance and Keith let out a collective sigh before they moved the boy to CT.  


As they waited for the results, Lance took a moment to breathe. Keith was standing by his right, arms crossed and face serious. Lance didn’t notice this before, but on Keith’s right side, there was a scar extending from the top of his neck to his cheekbone. His black hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, but there were still chunks of hair framing his face. Lance would not admit that it was stylish and effortlessly cool and a little handsome.  


“I never caught your name,” Keith said after a beat of silence.  


“Lance McClain.” Lance cleared his throat, preparing for Keith to recognize him and…do what? Gloat? Cower? Laugh in his face that he’s a peds surgeon and not plastics like he swore he would be?  


“Keith Kogane,” Keith nodded, like Lance hadn’t been obsessing over him for the past seven years.  


“Uh, yeah, no duh,” Lance snorted. Keith shot him a confused look.  


“I get it,” Lance shrugged. “It’s a real power move. You know, pretending you don’t know who I am.”  


“Am I…supposed to?” Keith asked, and he even had the audacity to look sheepish. The bastard.  


“Uh…yeah!” Lance gaped. “We’re Keith and Lance, you know? Surgeon rivals, neck-and-neck, KeithandLance!”  


Keith pushed out his lower lip and stuck his head out in a totally NOT adorable way of showing his confusion. Lance found it incredibly insulting, actually, and was about to curse Keith out when the CT scans caught his eye.  


“Oh, no…” Lance bit his lip. The boy’s abdomen was filled with blood and he had ruptured a couple of organs. It looked like there was a broken rib or two in the mix as well.  


“We need to get up to the O.R., stat,” Keith said firmly, rushing out of the room. Lance followed, and together they made their way to the scrub room to get prepped for surgery.  


\--  


Several hours and one barely-stable child later, the two men walked out of the operating room totally spent. It wasn’t the longest surgery Lance had done, but there were so many hang-ups and unforeseen obstacles that he felt as if he had been in there for days. It was really touch-and-go at this point – the next 24 hours were especially critical.  


“That was my first Altea Grace trauma,” Keith muttered, then let out a soft laugh.  


“If it’s any consolation,” Lance shrugged, “you did pretty good.”  


It wasn’t until Keith’s gentle smile that Lance realized he had actually complimented Keith. He felt the need to correct that.  


“You know, for a mullet-head,” Lance added.  


Keith punched his arm playfully. “You’re kind of an ass. I thought peds was the playground of surgery.”  


“I’m sorry,” Lance huffed sarcastically, “did that seem like a walk in the park to you? Because it certainly wasn’t for me. Pediatrics may not be punk rock, but we’re still pretty damn hardcore.”  


“Okay, you got me,” Keith put his hands up, that same easy smile on his face. “You guys are metal.”  


“We’re rock stars,” Lance smiled. His smile faded. “Benji’s a rock star.”  


Keith squared his shoulders. “I’m going to talk to his father. I need to know how Benji ended up on the side of the road under a tire with no seatbelt bruises on his neck or abdomen.”  


They found him in the E.R. with Hunk tending to his right shoulder. The man was frantically speaking to Hunk, who was trying to console him to no avail.  


“You need to see if Benji’s alright,” the man sobbed. “It’s been hours, I need to know how my son is doing.”  


“He’s stable,” Lance said as he approached the bed. “Hunk, what’s he in for?”  


“Just a dislocated shoulder and a couple of cuts,” Hunk replied, inspecting the shoulder. “I popped it back in place, just decided to check on it while he was waiting for his son.”  


“Who are you two?” Mr. Sykes asked, his eyes wide and full of tears.  


“I’m Dr. McClain, the pediatric attending on call,” Lance assured him. “And this is our trauma attending Dr. Kogane. We were the surgeons operating on your son. He had extensive damage to his kidneys and stomach, and he broke two ribs, but he’s stable now. We can take you up to see him now, even though he isn’t awake and won’t be for a while.”  


“But before that,” Keith jumped in, his mouth set in a firm position. “I would like to know what your eight-year-old son was doing in the front seat with no seatbelt.”  


Mr. Sykes opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it as guilt bled into his expression. “He…I…”  


“Because, as a licensed driver,” Keith continued, “you would know that having a child of that age and stature in the front seat with no safety is a federal offense. Not to mention a fatal one as well.”  


“But…but he’s okay,” the man gulped, eyes starting to grow shiny with tears again.  


“You got lucky,” Keith snapped. “Barely.”  


Lance grabbed Keith’s bicep (which was rock hard) and ushered him away, telling Hunk over his shoulder which room Benji was recuperating in. He also apologized on Keith’s behalf before walking into an empty trauma room and closing the curtain.  


“What the hell is wrong with you?” Lance demanded. “As a trauma surgeon I would think you’d know better than to grill a trauma victim whose son just came out of an extensive surgery.”  


“That man needs to know what he did was wrong,” Keith hissed. “Sometimes, we don’t get lucky. Sometimes, people die. He needs to know that his son could have died. Today. Because of him.”  


“Geez, you’re morbid,” Lance muttered.  


“Oh, fuck off,” Keith grunted and shoved Lance’s hand off him before walking into the bustling pit. Lance stood in the room and watched him disappear into the crowd, feeling empty for some reason.  


Keith avoided Lance for the rest of the day, and Lance did the same. He rounded on other patients besides Benji, who had yet to wake up. The one time he did see Keith, the man was sulking in an elevator looking as hostile as ever. 

Lance checked on Benji one more time before his shift ended and decided that after his day, he needed a drink.  


Coran’s was the bar closest to the hospital, just a few minutes of a walk. Everyone who worked in the hospital went there – rarely did you ever see anyone who worked outside the hospital. Usually Lance waited for Pidge, Hunk, and Allura to join him at Coran’s, but right now he was content to nurse his tequila alone.  


“Heard about the crash this morning,” Coran said as he wiped the counter in front of Lance. “Lose anyone?”  


“No,” Lance sighed. “Had an eight-year-old come in. He hasn’t woken up yet.” Lance finished off his tequila shot and pushed the glass to the ginger man behind the counter.  


“Chin up, Two,” Coran smiled. He had Lance, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk ranked by height. “He’ll wake up and be A-OK. You’re a fantastic surgeon.”  


“I’ll drink to that,” said an all-too-familiar voice next to him.  


Keith freaking Kogane slid onto the stool beside Lance. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was out of its ponytail. Lance realized he had never seen Keith out of scrubs before – now, he was wearing a red and white motorcycle jacket and fingerless leather gloves. Really, _fingerless gloves _. In _2018 _. How ridiculous.____  


“Did you just admit that I’m a good surgeon?” Lance smiled cockily.  


“Sure,” Keith raised one shoulder in a half-assed shrug. “When you’re not being a total tool.”  


Coran poured a beer into a mug and slid it to Keith, who raised it in appreciation. “Thanks, Coran.”  


“You know, Lance,” Coran chuckled, “I might have to demote you to Number Three.”  


“Keith is not taller than me,” Lance protested, but even he knew that wasn’t true. Keith had shot up in the time he was gone.  


Coran grinned and walked away to tend to other drinkers. Lance turned to Keith and studied him under the dreamy lighting of the bar. Maybe it was the shadows or Lance’s alcohol-fogged brain, but Keith was actually kind of attractive. His eyes were this incredibly dark indigo shade, and they were so _intense _. The scar on his face added that extra dose of ruggedness to his hostile demeanor. His jawline was sharp and tense as he stared down his beer.__  


“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Keith grimaced.  


“You’ve been here only a few weeks,” Lance ignored Keith, “and Coran already knows your drink of choice. How?”  


“Coran’s just that good,” Keith deadpanned. “I’m an alcoholic. He’s my lover of ten years. Coran is my father. Take your pick.”  


Lance glared at the other man. “You’re a real comedian, huh?”  


“Not in so many words.”  


“Tell me, comedian,” Lance cocks his head, leaning closer to Keith, “how do you go through your interning year and first year of residency without even glancing at me?” He laughed. “I totally hated you, and you didn’t even know I existed. I mean, how screwed is that?”  


“I think you mean skewed,” Keith corrected.  


"Whatever,” Lance giggled. Those tequila shots were starting to hit.  


Keith sighed. “I was just trying to make it. Shiro’s pretty much my brother, you know? His family took me in when my dad…” It was Keith’s turn to laugh. “I’m not drunk enough for this yet.”  


He chugged his beer until it was empty. Coran swung by to refill it and nudged another tequila shot towards Lance. They both took swigs of their respective drinks, and Lance looked to Keith expectantly.  


“Hi,” Keith said, holding his hand out to Lance. “I’m just a boy in a bar. Who are you?”  


Lance furrowed his brows. “You’re a real lightweight, huh?”  


“I’m trying to start over, McClain,” Keith grunted. He pushed his hand closer. “I am. Just a boy. In a bar. Who. Are. You?”  


A smile creeped onto Lance’s face. “I’m just another boy in a bar.”  


They shook hands. It was nice.  


“Now, Shiro,” Lance pressed on.  


“No, no, no,” Keith shook his head. “You first. Tell me a secret. Any secret. Nothing too juicy, not yet.”  


Lance bit his lip. “Okay. Um…I can play guitar.”  


“No,” Keith purses his lips. “No, that’s not good enough. I’m about to expose all my deepest, darkest secrets to you, Boy In Bar. I want something good.”  


“Okay,” Lance tried again. “Okay, when I was going through med school, I had a brief stint where I…danced. Exotically.”  


Keith snorted on his beer. “You _stripped?” ___  


“Danced,” Lance suppressed a laugh. “Exotically. Payed for my first year. But then my parents got nosy and I didn’t want to admit to my mama that I…danced.”  


“What was your name?”  


“Blue.”  


“Blue,” Keith repeated, and it sounded magical.  


“My turn,” Lance started. “Where did you go? You know, when you left.”  


Keith narrowed his eyes at Lance playfully. “I thought you wanted to know about Shiro.”  


Lance hummed. “I’m saving that check for later. You know, to gain interest.”  


“Wow,” Keith snickered. “That was good.”  


Keith then proceeded to tell him that he decided to join the army for three years as a trauma surgeon stationed in Iraq. Shiro, he added, had also been in the army before he was honorably discharged after his right arm had to be amputated. This Lance knew, but he liked the way Keith told stories. His mouth quirked up and his eyebrows raised in an almost mischievous way.  


The clock ticked on as Lance and Keith swapped secrets. Lance learned that Keith’s dad had died when he was a kid and his mom was suspected to be dead after she was stationed in Iraq, so Shiro’s family fostered him for a while, along with many other families. Only the Shiroganes decided they wanted to adopt Keith, so they did. Keith was over the moon about his new brother, Shiro, and followed in his footsteps to become a surgeon and join the army. He also learned that Shiro was Keith’s sexual awakening – a fact that took several drinks to coax out of Keith.  


“Whose sexual awakening _wasn’t _Shiro, though?” Lance had teased.__  


Keith learned that Lance came from a big family, of which he was the youngest. Most of his family is living in Cuba, and Lance misses them every day. Lance was also voted Class Clown all four years of high school, and the only reason he decided to become a surgeon was because his geometry teacher told him he wasn’t smart enough to be a mechanic.  


“So, you chose _med _school,” Keith said in disbelief.__  


“Well, my only option was mechanic,” Lance shrugged. “And Iverson blew my cover on that.”  


“Okay, cut-off time,” Coran interrupted.  


“We’re not even that drunk!” Lance protested.  


“No,” Coran agreed, “but you do have work in the morning. Surgery and all that. You’re going to need a good night’s sleep to sober up, Three.”  


“I may be number three on your list,” Lance whispered, “but I’m number one in your heart.”  


Keith laughed at that, albeit a little too much, but it made Lance glow anyway. They both put on their jackets and looked at each other. Keith had a softness in his eyes that Lance knew was rare. It was enough to make Lance beam.  


“I called Hunk for you,” Coran said to Lance, and then to Keith, “and a Dr. Shirogane for you. I couldn’t let you boys drive back in the states you’re in.”  


“Oh, Shiro’s going to kill me,” Keith sniggered.  


Shiro was upset, but once he saw that Keith was just fine and just a little tipsy, he loosened up. It was funny, but Lance could almost see a resemblance from the two. The smiles were both lopsided, and Keith leaned on his right leg just like Shiro did. Lance guessed that’s just what happens when you live with someone for years on end. Even their facial scars were interesting – they had almost the same shape.  


“Do you need me to take you home, Lance?” Shiro asked, ever the mom.  


“I’ve got Garrett coming to pick me up,” Lance waved him off. “Hunk,” he told Keith, who nodded.  


“Okay, I’ll see you bright and early,” Shiro smiled, then ushered Keith into the car.  


“See you around, Bar Boy,” Keith slurred, tipping an invisible hat towards Lance.  


Lance watched them drive off. He stared at the road for a long time, trying again and again to think of things other than Keith’s crooked grin or indigo eyes.  


He came up short every time.  


\--  


“Hey, Lance,” Pidge knocked on the door of the lounge. It was more of a way to let him know she was there, but Lance gestured for her to step in. “Benji’s waking up, thought you’d want to know. I’m about to head up and see if everything’s working correctly.”  


“Awesome,” Lance nodded. He had just walked into the hospital with a bit of a headache, but other than that he was doing fine. “Did someone page Lotor to stitch up his face? I want minimal scarring for that kid.”  


“Yeah, the Ruler of Planet Doom was summoned,” Pidge snorted. “I’m so happy you didn’t go into plastics. You two would have been unbearable together.”  


“What?” Lance teased. “Not a fan of the Plastics Posse?”  


“Shut up and get dressed,” Pidge laughed, closing the door behind her as she walked into the hallway.  


Lance was pulling off his shirt to change into his scrubs when someone else walked into the room. Keith freaking Kogane looked as tired as ever, but his hair was freshly washed and his clothes weren’t perpetually wrinkled like they usually were.  


“Hey, Keithy-boy,” Lance greeted.  


Keith opened his mouth to reply, but his eyes got stuck on Lance’s chest. Now, Lance was no military man, but he did visit the gym with Allura, Hunk, and Pidge pretty often. Allura could out-bench him any given day, Hunk’s upper body strength was off the charts, and Pidge ran at a lightening speed, but he still enjoyed competing with them. Even with all that, the look in Keith’s eyes made him feel like a gym beast.  


“You…” Keith started, and then swallowed hard. He looked like he was drinking Lance in.  


“Benji’s waking up,” Lance said, a smile splitting his face open. He pulled the scrubs over his chest, as painful as it was, and Keith’s face grew red. “I’ll see you in his room, right?”  


“Definitely,” Keith whispered. He cleared his throat to try again. “Yes. Yes, definitely.”  


Lance had that smile on his face when he walked in Benji’s room, which only grew when he saw Pidge talking to the young boy. He looked groggy and grumpy, but he was awake and alive and that’s all that mattered.  


Allura’s interns, a nervous-looking group of five that Lance nicknamed the Mice, were crowded in the room for their rounds. Lance didn’t like working with them because they were a gossip-y bunch and they were children. Pidge was flashing a light into Benji’s eyes to check his pupils while asking the Mice questions. When she saw Lance walk into the room, she shooed out the Mice.  


“He’s all good, doc,” Pidge said. “Nice work.” She slapped him on the back, and he ruffled her short hair in response.  


“Hello, Benji,” Lance greeted, squirting some hand sanitizer into his hand as he walked inside the room. “I’m Dr. Lance, your surgeon. Well, one of them. How are we feeling this morning?”  


“Hi, Dr. Lance,” Benji replied shyly. He had big brown eyes and a freckle right on the left side of his nose bridge. It felt good to see him awake. “I’m…it hurts.”  


“What does?” Lance took a seat at the foot of Benji’s bed, leaning forward to press gingerly on his abdomen. It was a little hard, but tender for the most part.  


“There,” Benji groaned and squirmed away from Lance’s hands.  


“I’m sorry, Benji,” Lance gave him an apologetic smile. “We’ll fix that right away. Where’s your dad?”  


“Getting breakfast,” Benji sniffed.  


“Well, I usually don’t do this,” Lance faked an innocent look, then pulled a roll of stickers out of his coat pocket, “but I think you deserve a treat. You’re a real rock star, you know?”  


Benji’s eyes went wide as he took a sticker. “I am?”  


“Oh, yeah,” Keith jumped in. He had just walked into the room with a warm smile on his face. It did not make Lance’s heart flutter at all. “Everyone’s talking about it. You were so brave yesterday. Everyone wishes they were as cool as you.”  


“Really?” Benji beamed. “Wowie.”  


“This is Dr. Kogane,” Lance informed Benji. “He’s your other surgeon.”  


“Dr. Keith is just fine,” Keith laughed.  


“Keith Kogane?” Benji whispered. “You’re a superhero?”  


Keith tilted his head in an amused way. “And what gave it away?”  


“Your name,” Benji said matter-of-factly. “It’s like Peter Parker’s or Bucky Barnes’s name!”  


Lance lifted one finger to his mouth. “Shh, you don’t want to blow his cover, do you?”  


Benji shook his quickly shook his head.  


“It’s true,” Keith had moved to the other side of the bed, crouching down to be eye-level with Benji. “I’m a superhero. But being a rock star beats superhero any day. And you, my friend, are as rock star as they come.”  


Benji laughed, and Lance felt rejuvenated. Even with all the bad, even if Benji’s guts were splayed out in front of him yesterday, even with all the children he’d lost, it was all worth it to hear the laughter of a healed child.  


They left Benji to rest and closed the door behind them. Keith walked ahead for a bit before turning to Lance with the hugest smile.  


“That,” he said, “was amazing.”  


“Peds is always willing to take on new people,” Lance offered, half-joking. The Lance from seven years ago – hell, the Lance from twelve hours ago – would have been rolling to see present-Lance offer Keith freaking Kogane to join him in the same field.  


“Yeah, I’m good,” Keith scoffed, but it wasn’t in a mean way.  


“Why not?” Lance teased. “You’re actually really good with kids. I’m shocked at how natural it comes to you.”  


“And why’s that?”  


“Uh, have you looked at yourself? You’re all military and motorcycles and hard liquor and cigars. I don’t know, it was just surprising.” Lance paused. “Nice surprising.”  


Keith bit his lip. “You’re…” He sighed.  


“I’m what?” Lance asked, tone openly flirty.  


“Cute,” Keith blurted. “Really cute.”  


_Oh. _  
__

__“Oh,” Lance said, because _oh. _  
___ _

___“Yeah,” Keith coughed. “You’re good with kids, and not just in the peds doctor way you’re supposed to be. You’re, like, the kind of guy someone could take home to their mother. And that’s not usually really my type, you know?”  
_ _ _

___“Oh,” Lance repeated, because _OH. _  
___ _ _

___“But you’re funny,” Keith pushed on. “And sweet. And you’ve been obsessing over me for ages, and I wish I had paid attention to you sooner. Granted, you hated me, but still. And your body is really nice. And you smell like cinnamon. And I’d like to take you out for dinner sometime.”  
_ _ _

___Lance blinked, because Keith was standing in front of him with a green look on his face. Not envious. Sick. Like I-can’t-believe-I-just-bared-my-soul-to-you-and-all-you-have-to-say-is-Oh kind of sick. Lance should probably say something.  
_ _ _

___“I’m usually pretty good at this,” Lance swallowed. “This whole flirting/romance thing. Um, but you’re really intense, and that’s throwing me off.”  
_ _ _

___“Intense?” Keith’s brows furrowed in a sad way.  
_ _ _

___“Not bad intense!” Lance rushed to assure him. “Good intense. Hot intense. You’re hot. And good with kids. Wow, I like you. Let’s go out.”  
_ _ _

___“Really?” And he just burst into the most shy, adorable, sunshine-y smile that lit up the whole hospital.  
_ _ _

___“Yes,” Lance nodded. “Yes, definitely.”  
_ _ _

___Keith reached for his face, and his fingers set Lance’s skin on fire.  
_ _ _

___“I am a professional,” Keith murmured, “and this is not a brothel. It’s a hospital. But just know that if I wasn’t professional, and we weren’t at work, I would kiss you right now.”  
_ _ _

___Lance let out a shaky sigh. “That’s literally the hottest thing anyone has ever said to me.”  
_ _ _

___Keith smiled, and Lance smiled back, and the world burst into technicolor._ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> wow!!! this is my first time posting to ao3 and im a little nervous since i actually havent written fan fiction in a loooong time but klance has my heart. i just really needed hot surgeon!klance in my life okay?  
> also, i am so not a surgeon. this is all what i learned from greys anatomy. feel free to correct me if i made any errors.  
> hope you liked! leave kudos? (:


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